The Sinking Isle!

[Aeolius]

http://dvice.com/archives/2012/11/island-shown-on.php

"A mystery has unfolded in the South Pacific recently. An island shown on a Google Earth map of the area was no where to be found when scientists went looking for it as part of a geological study of the area."

 

[kinem]

It (R'lyeh) will resurface when the stars are right.

 

[jonesy]

Some news sources talking about Google Maps and satellites are a bit misleading since the island is in some published maps that predate the Internet.

 

[Fast Learner]

I'm sure it's a cartographic salt, which is an old, old trick, adding a false geographic feature or street in an out-of-the-way place, designed to make it obvious when someone copies your map.

FYI, the same is done with phone books, mailing lists, etc. It's an effective ploy when the copier has no realistic way of filtering out the fake data from the real.

 

[Aeolius]

I'm sure it's a cartographic salt, which is an old, old trick, adding a false geographic feature or street in an out-of-the-way place, designed to make it obvious when someone copies your map. FYI, the same is done with phone books, mailing lists, etc. It's an effective ploy when the copier has no realistic way of filtering out the fake data from the real.

But what happens when enough people believe in it?

 

[Relique du Madde]

Maybe Carmen San Diego stole it?

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Brigadoon!

 

[Cor Azer]

I'm sure it's a cartographic salt, which is an old, old trick, adding a false geographic feature or street in an out-of-the-way place, designed to make it obvious when someone copies your map.

FYI, the same is done with phone books, mailing lists, etc. It's an effective ploy when the copier has no realistic way of filtering out the fake data from the real.

The difference is that introducing an island that's not there could cause problems with ships at sea - if in distress, they may go towards someplace that can't actually help them.

At least with city maps, these salts tend to be deadend streets that don't change any navigation details.

 

[Fast Learner]

The difference is that introducing an island that's not there could cause problems with ships at sea - if in distress, they may go towards someplace that can't actually help them.

Agreed, which is why it's a good thing that it doesn't appear on any navigation charts for the area.

 

[Cor Azer]

Some news sources talking about Google Maps and satellites are a bit misleading since the island is in some published maps that predate the Internet.

Agreed, which is why it's a good thing that it doesn't appear on any navigation charts for the area.

Having not seen those sources, but having heard the above from multiple places, are you sure it's not on sea charts? Maybe not current ones, but it may have been on older ones (of course, those could have been salts themselves before safety was a concern.